Are your top team members calling out sick more frequently than usual? Has productivity gone downhill? Is there an air of negativity in the ranks? If so, it may be time to shake things up.
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines a healthy workplace (in part) as one that offers “opportunities for employees to enhance their physical and mental health and social wellbeing.”
Creating an employee wellness program is an effective way to invest in your team’s overall well-being, but not just any wellness program will do. Knowing how to create an an employee wellness program that is sustainable and invites employees to engage is the best way to accommodate their needs. Not only this, but it can set them up for a more satisfying work-life with your company well into the future, too.
Creating a wellness program that can be easily maintained
If creating an employee wellness program that your staff will participate in for the long haul, then you’ll need to do some planning.
Successful employee wellness programs begin by identifying employee needs
Who better than your employees to tell you what they need to be as healthy as possible? Each person will have their own needs, so start by surveying them to identify what they are.
With UPshow’s digital signage solution, you can post QR codes on your screens that link employees to a wellness planning poll or survey, inviting them to weigh in and ultimately co-create their wellness program with you.
Consider including the following questions on your digital surveys to gain deeper insights into their interests so that you can tailor your wellness program in a way that appeals to them:
- What does being healthy mean to you?
- What are your favorite hobbies?
- How do you incorporate physical activity into your daily schedule, if at all?
- Would you be interested in group physical activities, such as scheduled walking or running groups, or group fitness classes?
- What concerns do you have about your overall well-being?
- What are the top three health and wellness goals you’d like to focus on this year?
- How can we make healthy options more accessible to you at work?
Starting a wellness program with content that engages everyone, even deskless workers
With deskless employees, sending PDF attachments or lengthy emails about the ins and outs of their wellness program isn't practical or ideal. Instead, give all of your employees easy-to-read and view information that they can consume quickly in passing.
That’s where digital signage comes into play. You can give your employees countless videos, infographics, and other wellness resources, reinforcing the fact that the company has developed the employee wellness program to prioritize the staff’s well-being. Here are some wellness-oriented content ideas you can make available on your screens to get you started.
- Display inspirational messages, such as quotes about perseverance or other positive affirmations, to help them stay motivated.
- Show 30-minute lunchtime workouts or yoga/meditation sessions they can complete solo or as a team.
- Play healthy eating tutorials or whole-food recipes they can use during a busy work week.
- Display health and wellness myths vs. facts to ensure everyone follows accurate and up-to-date wellness practices.
- Create motivational audio playlists they can listen to on the go.
Monitor, track and celebrate team success
Some of your health initiatives will appeal to some and not to others. Getting your wellness program right will take some trial and error. As your employees participate in the program, they’ll also learn what works for them and what doesn’t.
Digital signage allows you to sustain ongoing, two-way communication where you can seek feedback via questionnaires or polls linked to QR-codes where they’re free to leave commentary.
To maximize communication with your digital signage, consider following these best practices:
- Place your screens in relevant, high-traffic areas where your employees spend significant time.
- Choose a premier digital signage solution that allows you to update your screens across all locations or even screen by screen to achieve consistent communication.
- Keep an open mind when reviewing employee feedback, and do your best to implement their suggestions.
Using digital signage to create an employee wellness program has several advantages traditional programs don’t have — including direct access to engagement analytics. You can make adjustments in real-time by viewing how often employees engage with your wellness content.
Once your wellness program is off and running, remember to acknowledge their participation, not necessarily their results. Each employee will participate at a level that works for them. Some will take it one session or day at a time, while others will set clear goals and continuously raise the bar.
Regardless of their approach, you can use digital signage to incentivize and even praise their efforts–because it’s the fact that they’re showing up that counts the most.
Developing employee wellness programs is easier with digital signage tools
UPshow SHIFT is the top-shelf on-premise performance marketing cloud transforming your screens into engaging, wellness-driving machines for your employees.
Intuitive content creation abilities make building a well-being program a breeze
You’re busy enough running your business and creating an employee wellness program that has an impact to worry about graphic design or the nitty gritty of content scheduling and distribution.
UPshow’s Canva integration will simplify the process, giving you pre-made design templates customized for health and wellness or for your industry — whichever you prefer. Since you’ll continuously be offering new and updated wellness content, these templates will make content creation even faster, saving you time and allowing you to give your employees the latest content they need.
Successful workplace wellness programs depend on employee engagement and interaction
No matter the nature of their jobs, today’s employees are always on the move. Putting wellness resources in their hands is practical and shows your company values their time. With UPshow’s QR Code campaign creator, you can give them unbridled access to well-being materials, such as:
- Connecting them to a health and wellness app or company-wide activity portal where they can share results if they wish and cheer one another on.
- Linking them to your company’s wellness page.
- Displaying promotional offers to local gyms, spas or wellness shops.
- Sharing a wellness program feedback questionnaire.
Robust analytics help flesh out wellness program outlines
Once your wellness program is in place, remember it’s a work in progress. You may need to adjust or change aspects of your program to make it more accessible, practical or relevant to your employees’ needs. This is where robust insights and analytics tools come in handy.
For example, if your employees tend to take advantage of wellness coupons and promotions in the community, you’ll see that by how often and how quickly they scan the QR codes you’ve set up.
UPshow’s insights and analytics will provide you with granular-level data that is easily downloadable, so you can study it and make any necessary changes to your program.
Get all of your employees in on your workplace wellness plan with UPshow
Knowing how to create an employee wellness program for your employees with the best digital signage solution on the market will get everyone closer to their wellness goals. As for the long-term outcomes? Employee engagement and retention will see an upswing, too.
Schedule a demo of UPshow SHIFT, and experience how easy it is to rally your team behind next-level well-being with digital signage.
